Under my skin
by blueskyraven
Summary: "You always told me being alone is painful. To me,if you leave, it's the same thing as being alone."


Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei

Author's note:

Hola,

my Sasu-Saku shipper comrades, and also everyone who isn't. This is my first Saku-Sasu fanfic, that I've been contemplating writing for quite some time. I finally got down to it. My initial plan is was to stick to a one-shot, but I realized I couldn't quite fit it all, so multi chapter fic it is ^_^  
I have a few things to say before you guys go on to reading, I have used a timeline that is a plausible future pertaining to the current events in the manga, however definitely not in complete detail or in strict accuracy, so *spoiler alert* for those of you aren't up to date yet.  
The second thing is this fic is pretty Sakura-centric, though I might consider some Sasuke P. towards the later chapters.

* SPOILER ALERT beyond this point*

Okay, I just cannot go on without mentioning the very obvious Saku-sasu moment at the end of chapter 685! I think I might have fan-girled off my chair when I read it the first time. It's like the first kind/nice thing Sasuke's said to Sakura since that initial look as she single-handedly destroyed those monsters. what do you guys think? Mention in the comments ^_^ And yes, I'm highly ( and extremely sadly) aware of the fact that Naruto is shounen, and Kishimoto-sensei can drop all the hints he likes without having to give a solid cannon before the end of the series, it breaks my heart really, but, well, you take what you get right? and write fanfic instead. ^_^

Well that being said, I hope you guys enjoy this fic.  
Reviews will be highly appreciated.  
Read on. ^_^

U.N.D.E.R.M.Y.S.K.I.N

"You always told me being alone is painful,

To me,if you leave, it's the same thing as being alone."

It had been a 107 days.

In a jumble of cold cheeks and raining leaves of fire, a tangle of woolen arms and overdue paperwork files, Sakura, blew out, a warm chasm in a sweet scented alcove. A 107 days, she counted, as she observed the bare silhouettes of the overhead branching trees, desperate snaking fingers, hopelessly holding on their last little embers, since Sasuke had returned to the leaf village, since Sasuke had returned home.

And they hadn't exchanged much beyond a few glances, enquiring on her part, indifferent on his.  
Typical nonchalance, but it had rubbed off her skin, causing a slight lateral shift in her meticulously composed mask. It had been slight, but nothing was too slight for eyes that had been trained to look for shadows in the dark. But if this observation did incite any sort of a reaction, it was lost on the external world, perhaps only stored away, for silent introspection.

A year and quarter had passed since the raging battle with Madara, and then Kaguya. The key had been giving in to that deep rooted sense of brotherhood, trust and instinctual coordination. But it had drained Sakura to within an inch of her life, to revive the two, and even then just enough until backup arrived. The end of the war brought a short-lived sort of sense of victory, only to lead way to multitude of slicing aches, as you took into account, the faces, the realization of every fallen comrade, the fact that despite the infallible emotional stealth of shinobi, nothing could fill the emptiness that death left behind. But life went on, buildings were reconstructed, cities were pulled back to their feet, alliances were formed. A makeshift hospital had been built, and as the primary wings overflowed with injured shinobi and civilians, more accomodations were made. Sakura had been thrown into a frenzy of medical jutsus, healing after healing, surgery after surgery, and even as her chakra reserves dipped dangerously low, she went on, for she knew that a moment wasted, would mean another fresh grave, another name in the building record books of death. She had gone on for a week straight, having only squeezed an hour or at the most two of sleep every two nights. In the end, Tsunade had forced her to head to her assigned quarter to get some sleep before she slipped away to nothingness. Sakura had understood the expression in Tsunade's eyes, as she caught a reflection of herself while passing by a basin of clear water, she was just skin and bones, matted hair darkened to a mauve, deep purple bags underneath her eyes brought out the startling unhealthy paleness of her skin. Just as she had been wrapping her brain around how unfathomable her exhaustion was, Naruto tumbled in, his usual brightness dimmed by his own exhaustion and losses, looking unusually contemplative. Sakura back pedaled, attempting to steel herself, Naruto only rarely put on a serious face, for he was Naruto, and he maintained his general sunny disposition despite the circumstances, and for that Sakura knew that she'd never quite be prepared for what was to come. He had left. Again.

Sakura had sat down on the thin makeshift mattress, like just those three words had knocked out her knees and sucked the air out of her lungs. She looked up disbelievingly at Naruto's sullen expression, as her brain tried to search for a plausible explanation. There were none, really. She quietly noted the dull ache that began to surface at the edge of her ribs, spreading across the left of her chest." He said he had things to take care of, Sakura-chan",he conjured up his trademark grin, thought it never quite reached his eyes." he'll be back.". He said it with a tone of finalty, he hadn't abandoned his promise yet, he wouldn't rest until they were team seven again, in it's true sense, and not just out of necessity. For Sakura, it was a game of pushing down hopes but holding on to beliefs, a constant war within her mind, within her heart. She knew Naruto, and his tirelessness. He'd never settle for anything less, and their connection was plausible now, blood that ran through the ages. But she couldn't deny the doubts that had settled deep within her, she knew that even if Sasuke did ever come back, it wouldn't be in the true sense. She could see him much clearer now, without the silly fancies of her genin days, the real Sasuke, though obviously not completely, never completely, it was just how he was. She knew it would take him a long time to gain the redemption he sought, if ever. How or where, depended entirely on his conscience.

He'd come back, surprisingly of his own accord. He'd walked into the hospital, in a mass of bloody eyes and a good few broken bones. Ironically, she'd been off duty, but promptly called in as the working staff were quite alarmed at the damage his eyes had sustained from overuse of his mangekyou and with Tsunade away on some national matters. they were quite clueless on how to deal with the damage without further harming the tissues. She hadn't been informed of the problem in detail, just called in on an emergency. So when Sakura walked in, putting on sterilized gloves, and wondering how Naruto was doing at his month long mission at the Sand village, when she felt a jolt of familiarity down her spine, she sensed his chakra though dimmed considerably, before she looked up. She could only allow herself a second of emotions, before she steeled herself and got down to work. He was in bad shape, bloodied and broken. She'd dealt with his bones He was only two steps away from going blind, it took her a great amount of chakra to back track the damage and get his tissues healing.

Three days later, Sasuke jolted into consciousness, waking from the edges of a melancholic dream of Itachi, just as Sakura walked in, armed with a bundle of files. Her face, he noted, was carefully composed, unreadable. But she offered him a smile, conjured, but a smile nonetheless, "Sasuke-kun, you're up, how are feeling? Eyes?"

"I'm fine"

At his tone, she looked up questioningly. "Sasuke-kun, you haven't recovered completely yet, not enough to be moving about." He was in the process of yanking out all tubes that connected him to various machines. At his silence, she sighed, " At least let me check your eyes, you're expected at the Hokage's office after." He threw her a long unreadable glance, and sat on the edge of the hospital bed, so his head was in level with her arms. She held sides of his face as she channeled chakra through his retinal tissues, while he sat scrutinizing her face in silence. She looked at him, receding the warmth of her healing chakra from his temples, "They're healing pretty well, considering how bad you brought them, but you'd do yourself good, if you refrained from using the mangekou for a while. Oh and Naruto's still away on a mission, though he's to be back soon."

It was disconcerting enough having him so close, without having him looking at her directly, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from his body, like she couldn't deny his presence, or the fact that if he looked at her any longer, he'd see through her. Not like it would mean a great deal to him or make a huge difference, she told herself, as she stepped back, cheeks flaming and gathered his files and walked towards the door. When she looked back, her conjured smile was back in place, "Well then, I guess Shishou's expecting you."

And she walked out before she might have cracked.

Sorry, this chapter is so short. I promise, the following chapters will be double-sized. But I hope you liked it, please do review. ^_^


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